Helen Carter

In 1950, she married Glenn Jones of Dickson, a pilot. They were blessed with four children; Kenneth Jones, Glenn Daniels, David Lawrence and Kevin Carter Jones.

Her son Kenneth was a talented musician and songwriter in his early years. Unfortunately, he died in an automobile accident at the age of 16.

On June 2, 1998 she passed away in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 70 because of heart disease. She was buried next to her son, Kenneth, in the same cemetery in which her parents were buried.

She was born on September 29, 1927 in Poor Valley Virginia to Ezra Carter and Maybelle Addington Carter, a country musician. She was the eldest of the three sisters.

With her mother traveling to musical shows around the world along with her aunt and uncle as a part of ‘The Carter Family Band’, she used to look after the family. She used to do most of the cooking and took care of her sisters, holding the family together.

Along with taking care of the family, she also learned to sing and play a number of musical instruments to establish her place in the family music band. She was a talented and hard-working girl eager to learn and continue the family legacy.

In 1938, the ‘Carter Family Band’ was invited to perform on the most powerful radio station of its time, XERA, in Texas. In 1939, she began her artistic career when she sang the backup harmony along with her sisters, twice a week, for $15 a week. She continued to perform in this radio show for four years.

In 1943, there was a sudden breakdown of the Carter Family Band when her aunt, Sara Carter, left the group to live with her second husband in California and her uncle, A.P. Carter, left the group to settle in Virginia.

After this collapse, her mother formed a new Carter Family Band along with her daughters and named it ‘Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters’. In the band, her sister, Anita Carter, sang the lead vocals while other members played as the musicians.

They used to perform the old hits of Carter family on the radio program ‘Old Dominion Barn Dance’ in Virginia. In 1948, they moved to WNOX radio station to perform with legendary country artist, Chet Atkins.

In 1950s, the band along with Atkins used to perform regularly on The Grand Ole Opry, nation’s most popular country music radio show. They also performed as the opening act for Elvis Presley’s tour in 1956-57.

Her greatest commercial success came from songwriting. Some of her famous songs include ‘The Kneeling Drunkard's Plea’, ‘Wall to Wall Love’, ‘Rosanna's Going Wild’, ‘Loving You was Worth this Broken Heart’, ‘Poor Old Heartsick Me’, ‘Is This My Destiny?’ and ‘What am I Supposed to Do?’.

The Carters were on the first to feature the country music on a nationally televised network program, ‘The Kate Smith Show’.

She played a variety of instruments including accordion, autoharp, guitar, piano and mandolin.

She was described as the rock of the family, both onstage as well as offstage. Her family members always stated that she was the reason behind their lively musical performances onstage and also of the special bonding they shared with each other offstage.